MUST WATCH

"It's been a whirlwind," the 27-year-old told CNN. "It's been an absolute dream to have come into a home Olympics and to have been able to perform the way I had always hoped and to them experience all these amazing award ceremonies to be here tonight with some amazing sports people."

"Being able to be here with not only all of these great athletes but these great actors and actresses from all over the world, it's something new to me," Phelps, who has taken to golf since quitting the pool, told CNN.

Felix Sanchez was rewarded with the Comeback of the Year award after he regained the Olympic 400 meters hurdles title he had won eight years earlier.

The 35-year-old from the Dominican Republic provided one of the most emotional moments in London, displaying a picture of his recently deceased grandmother after taking gold.

MUST WATCH

JUST WATCHED

Michael Phelps' favorite things...

MUST WATCH

"This makes everything and all the dedication and all the hard work that went into this season and all of last season all that much more fulfilling," Sanchez said.

Tennis star Andy Murray won the breakthrough prize after ending Britain's 76-year wait for a men's grand slam title at the U.S. Open, and also claimed the Olympic singles event, while Brazilian swimmer Daniel Dias was named best athlete with a disability for the second time after winning six gold medals -- all in world-record times -- at the London 2012 Paralympics.